OUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - THE FUTURE

As supporters may be aware, EFL clubs will vote at next month's AGM on whether they will be obliged in future to produce a match programme.

A programme has been a staple of the Crawley Town matchday since after the Second World War. The programme has come a long way since those days, when each issue contained four pages and cost 1 penny!

Last season we cut our pagination from 68 to 48 pages whilst maintaining roughly the same ratio of editorial content to advertisements. We are pleased to report that average sales on matchdays acutally increased slightly, but this still represents an average of just less than 20 per cent of the overall attendance - a figure that has barely changed during our time as a League club.

We are obliged by EFL rules to give away up to 50 copies each game to media, match officials as well as executive members who receive a copy as part of their package.

In addition, producing a programme takes up to two working days before each home game to produce and Crawley Town are not alone among EFL clubs, particularly in League One and Two, in wondering whether that time could be better utilised and if more emphasis should be placed on social and digital media in communicating news and information from the club.

The club has no plans at present not to issue a programme in future, regardless of the result of next month's vote by clubs, but for the programme to remain a viable part of the matchday experience we want our fans, whether they purchase the programme regularly on not, to let us have their feedback by answering these questions.

What would persuade you to buy a programme in future if you don't purchase at the moment or only do so on an occasional basis?

If you already buy a programme, what features do you want to see more of - and what do you want to see less?

If it were available, would you consider purchasing a downloadable copy of the programme?

If the club reduced pagination still further (and price) would it make you more or less likely to buy a programme?

Please get in touch with your answers and help us shape future policy regarding the programme. Email brucetalbot@crawleytownfc.com